The present invention relates to an apparatus for the fastening of a fitting, preferably the support arm of a hinge, to a panel of a piece of furniture or the like consisting of a base plate fastenable to the panel, for example by dowels or screws, to which base plate the fitting or a part connected thereto can be connected.
For example, when furniture doors are affixed to the side panels of cupboards, the assembly work is made considerably easier if the hinge arms of the hinges already pre-mounted on the furniture doors do not have to be screwed to the side panels or base plates already fastened thereto, but can simply be locked onto base plates pre-mounted on the side panels by means of snap catches. Such locking connections between pre-mounted base plates and hinge arms provided with locking devices, which hinges arms are normally disposed on an intermediate plate supporting the hinge arm, are known in various embodiments. These locking devices, which are easy and fast to mount, however, normally require complex locking devices which therefore make the hinges or their base and intermediate plates more expensive.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a fastening apparatus of the type first described which allows a simple and fast connection of the fitting to a base plate and which can also be detached again simply and fast.
This object is solved in accordance with the invention by the base plate and the fitting being provided on one end with protrusions and/or bends which can be hooked up to one another and on their opposite end regions with a device which interlocks the two.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, it is provided that the base plate and the fitting or the part connected thereto can be brought into their coupled position where they grip behind each other by parallel shifting and that the base plate is provided on its opposite end region with a rotatable, but axially unmovable, eccentric, disc-shaped head which is rotatable out of its position covering the base plate into a position protruding over this, in which it penetrates the fitting in a breakthrough, grips over a shoulder of the edge of the breakthrough and moves the fitting in such a way that the parts to be hooked together come into their coupled position.
The fastening apparatus in accordance with the invention allows a simple and fast and detachable connection of a fitting to a pre-mounted base plate. The fitting or a part connected thereto only needs to be set onto the base plate, with it subsequently only being necessary to make the connection to turn the eccentric head using a tool, for example a screwdriver, by a fraction of a whole turn in order to effect a solid connection. By a corresponding turning back of the eccentric disc, the connection can be detached again. The fastening apparatus in accordance with the invention can also be mounted easily for the reason that the base plate can be fastened in a simple manner in pre-bored holes of a support part by screws or insertable dowels.
Appropriately, the coupling part of the fitting is a plate.
The base plate can be provided on its front end with an acute-angled edge and the plate with a complementary bend gripping behind such edge so that the hooking together of the two parts can be effected simply.
In another aspect of the invention, it is provided that the shoulder of the edge of the breakthrough of the plate, which shoulder is gripped over by the head, is provided with a wedge-shaped chamfer so that when the eccentric head is turned, the fitting is tightened against the base plate.
In accordance with another embodiment, the object is solved by the base plate and the fitting being provided on ends opposite each other with parts which can be hooked together by parallel moving and a gripping behind one another and the base plate being rotatably, but axially unmovably provided with an eccentric, plate-shaped head which penetrates a breakthrough in the fitting, engages at an edge of the breakthrough and thus moves the parts to be hooked together into their coupled position.
To simplify the mounting of the apparatus in accordance with the invention, which is particularly appropriate when, for example, multiple hinges supporting a door have to be mounted on a panel of a piece of furniture, in accordance with an inventive further development it is provided that the fitting hooked to the base plate or the intermediate plate connected thereto and hooked together with the base plate can be fixed loosely together at their end regions opposite the hook connecting for purposes of pre-mounting by a resilient snap connection. This aspect of the invention allows the fittings or the hinge arms to be loosely connected to the panel of the piece of furniture or the like by a simple hooking up and pressing down so that the required adjustments can be made before the fitting or the intermediate plate is interlocked with the base plate.
Appropriately, the fitting is provided at its end region with a resilient element which snaps behind a locking edge of the base plate chamfered at the rear when it is pressed into the plane of the base plate.
Appropriately, the resilient elements consists of a spring wire retained on the side edges of the intermediate plate.
In accordance with another embodiment, it is provided that the resilient element consists of a spring lock washer retained on the shaft of the eccentric cam between the eccentric head and the base plate.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to the fastening of a hinge cup insertable into a recess to a ground plate to be fasted to a parts such as a door or the like to be jointed by the hinge. Such a ground plate can, for example, be mounted fast by a machine by means of screws and, if necessary, dowels. It is provided here in accordance with the invention that the ground plate is insertable into the recess and an interlocking device is provided to interlock the hinge cup to the ground plate.
The interlocking of the hinge cup on the ground plate disposed below it is therefore effected on the inside of the recess. A hinge-cup flange, for example, extending over the rim of the recess can remain free of interlocking means or holes and have a smooth finish.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the interlocking device is fastened to the ground plate and can be brought into interlocking engagement with the bottom of the hinge cup. Generally, a reverse disposition could also be provided, i.e. the interlocking device could be disposed on the hinge cup. The embodiment described above, however, has some advantages with regard to a space-saving configuration which is simultaneously easier to operate.
The interlocking device preferably consists of a closed, detachable fast interlock, in particular it can be designed as an interlocking eccentric cam. Here, the interlocking device is movable between an assembly position in which the hinge cup can be set into the recess and onto the ground plate and an interlocking position in which the hinge cup is interlocked on the ground plate. One particularly advantageous aspect consists of a rotatable eccentric head being fastened to the ground plate, which head grips over the bottom of the hinge cup in its interlocking position. The eccentric head is preferably disc-shaped and sits on an equally eccentric collar whose height roughly corresponds to the thickness of the hinge cup bottom.
To avoid any impeding of the hinge link in the closed state, the bottom of the hinge cup can possess a hollow which accepts the section of the interlocking eccentric cam gripping over the bottom. The eccentric head therefore does not project as an impediment over the bottom surface of the hinge cup, but is essentially lowered in the hollow of the hinge cup.
To allow the hinge cup to be pushed over the eccentric head, a recess is provided in the hollow in the hinge cup bottom, which recess is penetrated in the mounted state by the eccentric head. To avoid any impediment of the hinge link to the greatest possible extent, and to simplify the mounting of the hinge cup, the recess or the interlocking device can be disposed slightly radially offset from the centre of the hinge cup. Preferably, the radial offset is directed away from the side at which the hinge links are jointed to the hinge cup. In this way, in the opened state of the hinge, the interlocking device is easily accessible.
To ensure a simple mounting, advantageously a stop is provided to determine the mounting position of the interlocking device. The stop can interact with the preferably also eccentrically disposed collar of the eccentric head which limits the rotation of the eccentric cam and determines its mounting position. The stop can in particular be formed as a projecting embossing in the ground plate. In this way, no additional parts are required and a simple assembly is ensured.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the hinge cup is tightened against the ground plate by the interlocking device. Preferably, for his purpose a wedge-shaped chamfer surface is provided which, when the interlocking device is moved into its interlocking position, pulls the bottom of the hinge cup onto the ground plate. The tightening of the hinge cup on the ground plate effects a secure fastening of the part such as a door to be jointed without any play or wobble. The wedge-shaped chamfer surface is preferably provided on the interlocking device, in particular the eccentric head. Generally, the chamfer surface could also be provided in the opposite manner on the hinge cup or the ground plate. The previously described embodiment, however, possesses some advantages in the manufacture of the hinge cup or the ground plate.
Furthermore, one advantageous embodiment of the invention consists of the ground plate possessing an essentially U-shaped cross-section having fastening flanges protruding laterally from the recess to which flanges the ground plate can be mounted fast to the door, for example by screws. The fastening of the ground plate by means of laterally protruding flanges permits longer screws, as in this region the part to be jointed possesses a greater thickness. The hinge cup can also possess laterally shaped flanges which fully cover the ground plate. In this way, the flanges of the base plate with the fastening means disposed thereon are covered, a visually attractive surface is achieved. In particular, the flanges formed on the hinge cup possess a circumferential bridge with which they encompass the ground plate true to size.